It appeared the man who travelled with her had decided to come along. That annoyed Devona, but she wasn't in a position to make demands. If this got them safely to a caravan and thence to Lahkis then it would have to be borne; there would be men on the caravan crew anyway, and after counting five or six they didn't bear counting. Either they would be honorable, or they would not. She would have to trust in the woman she'd hired to know what she was doing.

The woman did appear to be competent, at least. Devona and the girl stood at a polite distance while the woman and her companion haggled with the agent to which they had been directed. The agent looked over at them and gestured in a derisory fashion, and Devona straightened a little. Something about her or the girl or both appeared to cause the agent a great deal of exasperation. There was more arguing, and the agent turned and gestured to the guide much as he had at Devona and her charge.

Women. We found a caravan that doesn't take women. Her confidence in the young woman began to fade.

Their next great battle of wills would be with the caravan leader himself, and Mal knew he wouldn't be as easily won over as the agent had been. Still, there was a substantial amount of money involved, and money almost always won out. She was sure he'd see reason, eventually.

"How many men accounted for?" Cale asked Riham away from the others.

"Nine so far," Riham replied.

Cale nodded slowly. "Start them loading the camels, we'll leave as soon as the rest arrive. I am . . . impatient to leave."

Riham gave him an odd look, but moved off to carry out his orders. Cale walked to the pen where their camels were being kept and set to work harnessing and packing one the beasts. Now that Cale was useful once again, his impatience had a different feel to it. The sooner they could leave this city, the better.

"Your agent directed us to you," said a voice behind him. "We'll pay you a great deal of money to get us to Lahkis. The woman and girl need gear, but the ranger and I have our own supplies. Two hundred for them, and fifty for us. Would that suit?"

Cale finished his packing, letting the woman wait. He went back over the straps and bags a second time, double-checking his work. Then he turned and said, in forced good humor, "Good day."

Reno gave her a warning look, one to remind her to lower her voice, but Mal was furious and having none of it. Her tirade had been variations of the same complaint since the caravan leader stepped away with their client, and it was more bitter every time she repeated it.

<Ain't any different than the ones we left behind, anyway. Won't be anything but trouble if we buy on with them. Forget this.>

<We'll see if the woman manages, Mal,> Reno told her in a cool tone, and Mal snorted but stopped talking long enough for him to step closer and rub his thumb against her shoulder reassuringly. She relaxed, just a little, and he dropped his hand. Neither said any more until the woman finished speaking with the caravan leader and headed back their way, and by the time she reached them, Mal managed to sound nonchalant again.

The women were waiting near the gate to the pens with their belongings. The two with them had moved off to make their horses desert-ready, shaking out their traveling gear and rebalancing their packs, and Riham was glad he would not have to deal with them as well. The woman and the girl would be trouble enough.

He introduced himself and in return received their names, though he did not ask for them. They were both wary of approaching the camels, but after observing Riham's assured movements around the large beasts they began to grow more bold. He provided them basic instruction on handling the pack harnesses and saddles and then watched while each of them attempted to follow his example. The older woman, Devona, went about the tasks with slow determination, showing neither satisfaction nor irritation, and after a couple of attempts she demonstrated passable proficiency. The girl, Raspeth, was more interested, but she tended to follow his movements rather than looking at the task that he was accomplishing with them. She started when he struck the camel's side before tightening the saddle, and it was obviously difficult for her to pull it tight. Riham let her struggle with it. So did the woman Devona.

When the girl had gotten enough of a handle on the thick leather straps he had the camel kneel and put her into the saddle. She seemed relatively comfortable once she was off the ground, and followed his instructions well enough to lead the camel in a gentle circle around the pens. She gave it the command to kneel without being told how and stepped down to the ground with a rather satisfied expression.

The woman Devona was clearly more used to horses, but she also learned without too much trouble. When he was certain both of them could ride on their own for long enough to clear the city he showed them how to pitch the canvas tents. It would be more challenging when it was sand and not packed dirt, but he decided that would have to wait. By the time the lessons were done they were both sweaty and dirt-stained, but they wouldn't be as much of a burden as they might have otherwise, and the sun was almost down.